Directive Leadership
Directive leaders provide clarity and coordinate work, informing
their team members of what is expected of them. Directive leaders
tell their team members what to do, how to do it, and when to do
it.
This behavior leadership style is particularly effective in situations
where workers are unsure about their duties or during times of
uncertainty. It is one of the more common leadership styles, but it
has become a less popular style in recent years. Author and
executive coach Louis Carter explains why.
“With the evolution of work and job performance, people are less
likely to be patient with a leader who uses a ‘command and
control’ approach to leadership.”
While there may be certain situations where elements of this style
of leadership can be useful, it can cause problems if the directive
leader lacks expertise or if they treat their employees as little more
than cogs in a machine.
With this style of leadership, the power rests almost solely with the
leader. Directive leaders prefer giving directives because they may
be unwilling to take suggestions from their teams. This can make
employees feel marginalized and unappreciated.
It removes the vital element of feedback from the equation, which
can hurt creativity, innovation, and collaboration. It can also make
employees unhappy in their roles because this type of control
often leads to micromanaging.
Supportive Leadership
Supportive leadership is when leaders improve the employee
experience by making the lives of their employees more pleasant.
Supportive leaders are approachable, empathetic, friendly, and
maintain an open-door policy to ensure healthy communication
and a culture of feedback.
Supportive leaders care about their workers and want them to
thrive. They foster supportive cultures where workers feel valued.
Supportive leaders demonstrate care and concern for employees,
maintaining a high level of trust and treating employees with
respect. This style of leadership is employee-friendly and good for
engagement.
Employees with supportive leaders feel valued, cared for, and
heard.
This leadership style is particularly effective in difficult times when
employees look to strong leaders to help them navigate
uncertainty. It can also be the ideal form of leadership when
employees’ jobs involve work that is physically or mentally
challenging.
While this is a great form of leadership for leaders who want to
maintain a culture of care and a welcoming work environment,
some managers and employees may find that there is too much
ambiguity with this style of leadership.
It can create a situation where there is ambiguity in processes and
even expectations, which can lead to employees not being able to
meet goals or do their best work.
It can also be a time-consuming process to lead in this way, and it
requires a considerable amount of emotional intelligence and
patience from leaders. This would not be the ideal leadership style
for anyone who isn’t on board with normalizing setbacks and
mistakes and viewing them as part of the growth process.
Participative Leadership
Participative leadership, sometimes known as democratic
leadership, involves employees in the decision-making process.
Participative leaders are pro-participation and foster professional
growth. These leaders delegate responsibilities, consult with and
seek feedback from their teams, and use that information to drive
decision-making and implementation of new policies, procedures,
and processes.
Transparency is important to participative leaders, and they strive
to ensure all team members are aware of how their roles fit into
the organization’s bigger picture and how their work makes an
impact.
This is a good leadership style when you have a team of engaged,
experienced, and highly-skilled workers who are invested in their
work and motivated to perform well.
The style of leadership can help employees meet their need for
purposeful, impactful work and provides a healthy system of
feedback that benefits both employee and employer.
It can, however, slow decision-making since participative leaders
try to include each team member in the decision-making process,
creating a “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario.
While the intent may be to help employees feel included, some
employees may not want to be a part of the process. There is also
an increased chance of conflict with this leadership style.
Achievement-Oriented Leadership
In achievement-oriented leadership, leaders foster growth by
setting goals for employees that are challenging and encouraging
employees to cultivate an attitude of continuous improvement.
Achievement-oriented leaders have a bias toward results and top
performance, and they ensure their employees have the tools they
need to achieve the goals set for them. These leaders set high
standards for their teams and provide clarity about objectives, help
employees figure out ways to improve, and make goals easier to
reach.
This leadership style is well-suited to leaders who have highly
engaged and motivated employees who work well with a high level
of autonomy and have exceptional problem-solving abilities.
However, this style of leadership can create a work environment
where leaders focus on tasks and what their teams achieve, rather
than focusing on team members.
Some employees may feel that they are easily replaceable, which
can cause them to disengage. This form of leadership can also
stifle innovation, cause burnout, and lead to turnover.
